Primary sources are original records created at the time historical events occurred or well after events in the form of memoirs and oral histories. Primary sources may include letters, manuscripts, diaries, journals, newspapers, speeches, interviews, memoirs, documents produced by government agencies such as Congress or the Office of the President, photographs, audio recordings, moving pictures or video recordings, research data, and objects or artifacts such as works of art or ancient roads, buildings, tools, and weapons. These sources serve as the raw material to interpret the past, and when they are used along with previous interpretations by historians, they provide the resources necessary for historical research.
By the Instruction & Research Services Committee of the Reference and User Service Association History Section in the American Library Association.
The Complete Bill of Rights : the drafts, debates, sources and origins edited by Neil H. Cogan Ref. KF 4744 1997
Documents of American Indian Diplomacy : treaties, agreements, and conventions, 1775-1979 compiled by Vine Deloria, Jr. and Raymond J. DeMallie Ref. KF 8202 1999 (2 volumes)
Documents of American History edited by Henry Steele Commager Ref. E 173 .C66 1973c (Earlier editions are located in the library stacks and may be checked out.)
Historic Documents Ref. E 839.5 .H57 (Salem State College Library holds volumes for 1972-present. Volumes for the years 2005-present are shelved in the reference section, earlier editions can be found in the stacks.)